[Paddlewise] GPS

I do not use a GPS because I find charts have always worked well for me.
Like others, I also have a serious case of cheap.

Using the GPS seems to give people a lot of confidence in their navigation
and some have used them to navaigate in fog or at night over open water. Of
course, power boat users also use them. I once encountered a large power
boat in dense fog at high speed (planing) down a channel. I assume he used a
GPS since I heard nothing about a boating accident later on. No doubt he
knew his location and course  but I doubt if he knew my location and course.
I was safely  hugging the shore so he would have run aground before he hit
me but it raises the possible problem of having to defend yourself from
careless operators. I have not heard of such an accident but I suppose it
could happen if someone tried to cross a channel using GPS and met a much
larger boat doing likewise but not paying a lot of attention to his radar
(or maybe even not paying much attention to anything but the sweet young
thing holding the drink by his side :-)

Cheers

John Winters
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